Posts Tagged ‘Flight Training magazine’

Chip Wright’s recent blog on LiveATC.net got me wondering what other kinds of armchair aviation activities pilots like to do. We always tell our readers to “keep your head in the game” when you can’t fly. But how, exactly, do you do that? I posed the question to our Facebook friends, and they came up with a list of great suggestions. Here are some:

“[Sit] on the flight line and watch the other planes. … You can learn a lot by watching the landings.”—Stephen Bristow

“I love studying sectionals.”—Chris Hatcher

“Hang out at the airport if it’s nice or watching videos if it’s not nice. Most of all I like sitting around with other pilots and talking about our past or future flights.”—Ken Ludwick

“[Study] for the private checkride. And practice the maneuvers in my head.”—Regina Coker

“[Read] the good ole’ [private pilot] textbook! I’ve been a pilot for almost two years and I read it all the time!”—Angelo Zullo

When air traffic control notifies you that there’s traffic in your vicinity, what do you do first? That’s the question posed to digital subscribers in the December 2012 Flight Training’s “Since You Asked.”

A reader asked Rod Machado whether he is expected to look first and then reply to such a call, or immediately key the mic and indicate that he’s looking. Rod’s response:

When air traffic control calls out traffic for you, the first thing you should do is direct your attention in the direction of the traffic. So look for the traffic first. There’s no need to clog the airwaves by telling the controller that you’re “Looking,” either. The controller knows you’re looking, assuming you received the message.

I’ve automatically hit that mic key and said “Looking” while straining my eyeballs, so, ATC folks, I’ll back off on that one. Rod continues:

It typically takes only a few seconds to identify traffic if it’s close, at which point you’ll identify yourself to the controller and say either “Contact” if you see what was called, or if the traffic is converging on you and you don’t see it you can say “No contact.” If the traffic is close and you don’t see it, then request an avoidance vector. [Editor’s note: Since this column was published, a reader pointed out that the correct phrases are “negative contact” and “traffic in sight.”]

So, how did readers respond? Oddly, it was almost split right down the middle. Forty-nine percent of respondents said their first response is “Looking for traffic.” And 49 percent said they look for the traffic and then respond. Just one person said their first response is “Tally ho,” so congrats to the rest of you who didn’t pick that. To the one person who did pick it: You get a pass if you happen to be a fox hunter. Remember, if it’s not in the FAA’s Pilot-Controller Glossary, you probably shouldn’t use it.

“Since You Asked” polls appear monthly in the digital edition of Flight Training. If you’d like to switch your magazine from paper to digital at no additional charge, go here or call Member Services 800-USA-AOPA weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern.

When you see that airline pilot striding through the airport, decked out in full uniform, sometimes it’s hard to believe that he or she started out a student pilot…just like you.

I was reminded of this recently when I received two emails in the same week. Both were in response to “Renter No More,” an article I wrote for the October 2011 issue of AOPA Pilot, Flight Training’s sister publication. In “Renter No More” I described the process by which I came to purchase 7301J, a 1964 Piper Cherokee 140.

I got a lot of lovely feedback from that article, mostly well wishes from other owners and questions from prospective buyers. But two messages were more appropriate for my Flight Training readers.

Christian Moersch wrote to tell me that he took flying lessons two through five in 7301J, back in the 1960s. He flew her at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Latrobe, Penn., where she was part of a flight school fleet. “My association with 01J launched a career that continues today,” he wrote. Christian is a Boeing 737 captain for Continental Airlines.

In yesterday’s email came this message from Ed Lavis. He soloed in 7301J on Sept. 2, 1969, also at Latrobe. (He had 9.5 hours under his belt.) He recalls telling himself, “Kid, I hope you know what you are getting into.”

Today, Ed is a 34-year pilot with USAirways. For the last four years, he has been a Boeing 767 captain on international flights, and has flown more than 25,000 hours.

As you progress through your training, take a moment now and then to let it sink in. Christian and Ed are living many a pilot’s dream, and yet they both look back fondly on their days piloting a 140-hp trainer through blue Pennsylvania skies. As for me, I have no airline aspirations. But I’m proud to know that Miss J played a part in helping Christian and Ed become the pilots that they are today.–Jill W. Tallman